Everything You Need to Know About 'House of Cards' Season 6

It’s been almost a year and a half since season five was released, and now the sixth and final season of Netflix’s House of Cards will finally bless us with its presence on November 2. Robin Wright’s Claire Underwood is taking over as both the President of the United States and the fantasy HBIC we all deserve—minus all the evil stuff.

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The sixth season filming was postponed after multiple sexual assault allegations against Kevin Spacey were brought to light in the wake of #MeToo. As a result, everyone has been wondering where the series, which revolved around Spacey’s character Frank Underwood, will be taking us.

The future is female!

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It’s literally been so long — where TF did we leave off??

Season five left us with the shady Frank Underwood resigning as president and leaving his wife, Claire, to be sworn in as his replacement. Frank forcefully tells Claire that she will fully pardon him of the crimes he is being investigated for (which include actual murder) — threatening to revoke his resignation if she refuses. He even claims this was his plan all along, telling his wife “Don’t you see, I’ve designed this. I wanted you to be the president. I’ve made you the president.” (Sry bro, no one believes you.)

Obvs our girl Claire agrees to these terms with what we’re assuming are other plans in mind. It seems Frank is too obsessed with himself to remember how cunningly badass his wife is.

So, the season five finale ends with Claire’s first ever presidential speech, in which she doesn’t mention a pardon of her husband’s crimes. In the final scene, Claire is in the Oval Office, screening her husband’s calls (you go, girl.) She then looks straight into the camera, breaking the fourth-wall (which was characteristically Frank’s move), and says, “My turn.” *CHILLS*

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Running the world, cozy style.

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So what’s the deal with Kevin Spacey’s character?

Production for season six of the Netflix series was already underway when the initial allegation against Spacey surfaced in 2017. So it’s just by sheer luck that Robin Wright’s character had been sworn in as Spacey’s replacement at the end of last season.

Season six features absolutely no concrete shots of Spacey. There are close-up photos shown of “Frank’s” hands at his open-casket funeral, but that’s about it. The series wrote Spacey off in the same pitiless and unforgiving manner that Frank would have.

Like everything in HOC, there’s the official story (Frank died in his sleep) and then there’s the truth.

And we don’t know exactly what happened to Frank. Like everything in HOC, there’s an official story (Frank died in his sleep), and there’s the truth, which we have to wait all season to find out. I mean, a sketchy AF prez simply dies in his sleep immediately after resigning and being replaced by his wife? All while being investigated for criminal charges including murder? Ya, not likely.

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But it seems Frank’s death will become a season six mystery (to possibly everyone but his ever-so-powerful wife.)

Can I help you?

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OK, enough about Frank (I’m over him) — what about everyone else?

Well, let’s not forget that while Claire replaced her husband because of his sketchy past, she basically pulled a black widow and POISONED writer Tom Yates in the middle of sex during season five. Impressive(ly terrifying).

There are also a lot of leftover Frank scandals for Claire to deal with as the new president. Frank’s corruption was obvious to everyone, and it’s almost inevitable that Claire will have to fight off those with whom he had made shady deals.

He’s just one of the many sexist men this season to underestimate Claire (bad decision).

Like Frank’s former White House Chief of Staff, Doug Stamper, who in the v intense trailer for the final season claims Claire is the person he fears most. (Rightfully so, IMO.)

So what we can expect from season six?

Lots and lots of timely references to gender inequality.

Claire’s leading the country in a different way from her husband. And she’s dealing with the political backlash from that. New characters are brought in, including sibling billionaires and right-wing influencers Annette and Bill Shepherd (played by Diane Lane and Greg Kinnear). Bill becomes one of the many sexist men in the season to underestimate and then attempt to undermine Claire (bad decision), along with several Republican senators who hold a disdain for the female president because she doesn’t embody the Big Bad Man persona of her husband and other prominent male leaders.

And Claire isn’t viewed as having the proper amount of experience for such a position — even though she spent decades alongside her husband in the political arena. ¯_(ツ)_/¯

“The reign of the middle-aged white man is over,” the first female president in this parallel America declares at one point. “The Bill Shepherds of the world who won’t let go, have to go.” Amen, sista.